# Edgestar Thermostat Hack



## Suzza (Mar 18, 2010)

I have an Edgestar wine cooler with a manual thermostat and the temperature only goes up to 61 degrees which is too cold. I am definitely not spending the money on an external thermostat so does anyone know how to take apart and adjust the thermostat so it reaches higher temperatures? Thanks


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## centralharbor (May 20, 2010)

If you can keep your cigars at the proper humidity, does it matter if they're that low in temp? Just curious about this.


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## Suzza (Mar 18, 2010)

centralharbor said:


> If you can keep your cigars at the proper humidity, does it matter if they're that low in temp? Just curious about this.


Here is a passage from a Cigar Aficionado article:

"However, the ideal storage for wine is 55 degrees at about 70 percent humidity. This means that wine cellar temperature is generally too cool to store cigars. Why would that matter? Well, for one, humidity is also relative to temperature. I know it sounds like magic (it's science!) but for every drop in temperature degree below the ideal for cigars 70 degree temperature, you need to increase the humidity to keep cigars properly humidified. If the air is too cold, it won't be able to hold enough moisture in suspension. So at 55 degrees, you'd need about 80 percent humidity. Over the long term, your cigars are likely to dry out in your wine cellar."


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## e-man (Jan 5, 2009)

Suzza said:


> I have an Edgestar wine cooler with a manual thermostat and the temperature only goes up to 61 degrees which is too cold. I am definitely not spending the money on an external thermostat so does anyone know how to take apart and adjust the thermostat so it reaches higher temperatures? Thanks


There are no instructions that I know of. Not being familiar with that unit I can only guess how the circuit is designed.

Most likely it will have a thermistor as a temperature probe. A thermistor changes resistance with temperature. Basically, the circuit reads the resistance, and turns on/off when a certain resistance is reached. The goal is to either adjust the reading from the thermistor, or alter the threshold that causes it to turn on/off.

That basically means adding a resistor to the circuit. Putting a resistor in series will increase the resistance, and putting one in parallel will reduce the resistance. The size of the resistor will depend on the resistance of the circuit as it sits today, and how much you want to deviate from that value.

If you have a knob that adjusts temp, then that is very likely a variable resistor (but COULD be a variable capacitor...not likely). This is where the threshold is set. Again adding a resistor will shift the range that the unit operates at. It may be as simple as adding another resistor in series or parallel to shift the resistance up or down. OR you could try replacing the current variable resistor with a new one that has more range throughout the dial. If you have a digital control (buttons to adjust the temp, and a display that shows the current setting) then it will be a lot harder to do.

If you don't own a soldering iron and Multi-meter, then you probably don't have the skills needed to try this yourself. You could easily ruin the unit and not have any refrigeration.

However, you may even luck out and find a variable resistor already on the circuit board to allow the unit to be calibrated at the factory. If that's the case, you may only need a screw driver to tweak the settings.

Look on the circuit board for any component with a knob or screw head on it. Mark the current position, then try adjusting it one way or the other. You will want to be able to set it back to it's original position if it doesn't change your temperature range.

Beware, as there may also be a variable resistor for the "Dead Band". When the unit has just reached the tolerance, you don't want it turning on and off constantly, so they make the unit turn off at the set temperature, and stay off until the temp moves up a couple degrees. This dead band could easily be set by a variable resistor on the circuit board, or it could a fixed value.

Try this at your own risk. If you don't understand this post, that's a pretty good indicator that you shouldn't attempt it.


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## thegoldenmackid (Mar 16, 2010)

e-man said:


> Try this at your own risk. If you don't understand this post, that's a pretty good indicator that you shouldn't attempt it.


After four paragraphs, that's my thoughts.

Mine is at 65, but that seems rare without the Johnson. I'm not sure what's going to happen in the winter, but we'll see. 61 isn't death to the cigars by any means, it definitely will slow down the aging. I have started comparing between the cigars sitting at 65 versus my humidor which is 70-72ish and I'm liking the cooler ones more it seems.


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## bigslowrock (May 9, 2010)

My edge star sits at closer to 63


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## Tarpon140 (Aug 19, 2009)

I would just bite the bullet and wire in an external temp control unit. 

If that is not an option for you then you might be able to play around with a timer (the outlet style that alot of guys here use to control fans). With some experimenting and patience, you may be able to find an optimal run time that will hold the temp you are targeting. Of course this will switch the unit on and off more and might shorten it's life. I doubt it will really do any real harm though. Ultimately, that is what an external temp controller would do anyway. 

This solution would probably require more intervention than a controller on your part, the time may need to be tweaked with seasonal ambient temperature changes.


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## Scott W. (Jul 10, 2008)

Suzza said:


> I have an Edgestar wine cooler with a manual thermostat and the temperature only goes up to 61 degrees which is too cold. I am definitely not spending the money on an external thermostat so does anyone know how to take apart and adjust the thermostat so it reaches higher temperatures? Thanks


Chris, as I told you earlier, I keep my sticks in the basement, which gets much cooler than 61 deg during certain times of year. I think temp has less to do with it than humidity so if need be, if you cannot find a solution, don't fret. Take what you want to moke out of the vino and let it come up to temp then torch it. You will be OK.


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## Suzza (Mar 18, 2010)

scottw said:


> Chris, as I told you earlier, I keep my sticks in the basement, which gets much cooler than 61 deg during certain times of year. I think temp has less to do with it than humidity so if need be, if you cannot find a solution, don't fret. Take what you want to moke out of the vino and let it come up to temp then torch it. You will be OK.


Yeah ok. I wasn't worried about it until I read that Cigar Aficionado article that said they would dry out at low temps. But if you have experience with it and you say its fine then I'll certainly trust you over them.


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## thebayratt (Jun 4, 2009)

Tarpon140 said:


> I would just bite the bullet and wire in an external temp control unit.
> 
> If that is not an option for you then you might be able to play around with a timer (the outlet style that alot of guys here use to control fans). With some experimenting and patience, you may be able to find an optimal run time that will hold the temp you are targeting. Of course this will switch the unit on and off more and might shorten it's life. I doubt it will really do any real harm though. Ultimately, that is what an external temp controller would do anyway.
> 
> This solution would probably require more intervention than a controller on your part, the time may need to be tweaked with seasonal ambient temperature changes.


Good idea. 
But if your Edgestar is like my Vino, when the power gets shut off and turned back on, it resets the temp to mid 50s ( i think 56). I lost power in a summer storm a while back and noticed it when the power came back on. Luckily before it got time to cool then inside temp that low.


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## thegoldenmackid (Mar 16, 2010)

thebayratt said:


> Good idea.
> But if your Edgestar is like my Vino, when the power gets shut off and turned back on, it resets the temp to mid 50s ( i think 56). I lost power in a summer storm a while back and noticed it when the power came back on. Luckily before it got time to cool then inside temp that low.


The Edgestar fortunately doesn't reset to a default temp, just whatever it's set too. I have to wonder what that does for condensation and RH though. I guess it is the same idea as the Johnson with a little less technology/math.


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## thebayratt (Jun 4, 2009)

If it doesn't reset the temp, then I would try a digital timer then.
You can get for about $10-15 at Lowe's. I got one for my fans and has a good number of on/off times for how ever long you want them to go for. I wouldn't waste my time with an old "pin" type timer. Thats just me, I like a little control some times~


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## Suzza (Mar 18, 2010)

thebayratt said:


> If it doesn't reset the temp, then I would try a digital timer then.
> You can get for about $10-15 at Lowe's. I got one for my fans and has a good number of on/off times for how ever long you want them to go for. I wouldn't waste my time with an old "pin" type timer. Thats just me, I like a little control some times~


I actually installed a computer case fan in my cooler and I have a digital timer to make it go on for 10 minutes every hour. But my cooler humidity goes up when the thing is off so using a timer isnt a good idea.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

To maintain 70% R/H at 70F this is a simple equation.
Temp R/h required to equal 70%

70 70
69 72
68 75
67 78
65 83
63 89
61 96

Below 60 is impossible that's why i never went the refrigerator route.
I freeze my cigars then store at room temp.
No bugs no hassles, after all this is a hobby not a job.:beerchug:


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## Suzza (Mar 18, 2010)

TonyBrooklyn said:


> To maintain 70% R/H at 70F this is a simple equation.
> Temp R/h required to equal 70%
> 
> 70 70
> ...


So your equation says that everyone here on puff who stores at 65/65 (and there are plenty of them) are wayyyyyyyyy underhumidifying their cigars. Well since none of these many people ever complain about their cigars drying out then this formula is either way off or it just doesnt really effect cigars.


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## Scott W. (Jul 10, 2008)

Suzza said:


> Yeah ok. I wasn't worried about it until I read that Cigar Aficionado article that said they would dry out at low temps. But if you have experience with it and you say its fine then I'll certainly trust you over them.


You might need to up the beads of humi devices in the winter to prevent the humidity from getting too low, that way you insure your sticks won't dry out. I keep my sticks around 62 RH anyway and never had an issue with them.


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## arodgers (Sep 10, 2009)

Preface: I am not an expert by any means, but the following is how I understand it based on what I've read here.

There's some confusion in this thread. RH is _Relative_ Humidity. It's called that because it's the humidity level, _relative_ to the temperature. 65% RH at 60*F is the same as 65% RH at 90*F. It's harder to reach a certain relative humidity level at lower temperatures, but if you can get it there you'll be fine. The cigar aficionado article was speaking to normal humidity levels, and the chart someone posted earlier is the conversion to find RH at a certain temp/humidity.


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## Suzza (Mar 18, 2010)

arodgers said:


> Preface: I am not an expert by any means, but the following is how I understand it based on what I've read here.
> 
> There's some confusion in this thread. RH is _Relative_ Humidity. It's called that because it's the humidity level, _relative_ to the temperature. 65% RH at 60*F is the same as 65% RH at 90*F. It's harder to reach a certain relative humidity level at lower temperatures, but if you can get it there you'll be fine. The cigar aficionado article was speaking to normal humidity levels, and the chart someone posted earlier is the conversion to find RH at a certain temp/humidity.


You sir... are a genius.:bowdown:


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## e-man (Jan 5, 2009)

As far as water content of your cigar, so long as you have the same rH, the temp will not change the overall moisture of the cigars.

Those chart demonstrate how much less water there is in the air at colder temps, but rH is relative to the amount of moisture that the air is capable of holding. Since the air can't hold as much moisture, you need less of it in the air to maintain the same rH. A colder temp means that it will take longer to change the moisture content of a cigar, as there isn't as much moisture for it to pull from the air, and the moisture in the cigar won't evaporate as easily.

There is a point (near freezing) where you won't be able to maintain rH, but 61 is a long way from there.


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## dyieldin (Sep 27, 2009)

Just to make sure and no one is mislead by that nice chart. Your guage measures RH, it sees what is in the air at whatever temp.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Suzza said:


> So your equation says that everyone here on puff who stores at 65/65 (and there are plenty of them) are wayyyyyyyyy underhumidifying their cigars. Well since none of these many people ever complain about their cigars drying out then this formula is either way off or it just doesnt really effect cigars.


I just found where i read it i posted the chart from memory here is the link. I guess these BOTL don't know what they are doing either.

http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14069

Oh yeah you have to scroll down the page to find it.


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